A couple of days ago, I received a bill from Alberta Healthcare. It was for $88, covering two months of health care premiums.

Healthcare premiums were introduced by the Conservative government many years ago to supposedly help cover the cost of health care. Since their introduction, however, the Alberta government has racked up billion-dollar surpluses year after year thanks primarily to oil and gas revenue. This makes many people wonder why the government continues to collect premiums.

I was initially very angry to receive a bill for premiums. I have not been a resident of Alberta since last August. All my medical services are currently provided by the province of Quebec (which, like most provinces, does NOT charges premiums). But then I recalled that prior to obtaining coverage in Quebec, I was still in theory covered by Alberta for the months of September and October. But then I thought, hey, I won’t have to pay these premiums — I’m a student. They don’t make students pay for premiums!

So today, I called Alberta healthcare (at my own expense — no 1-800 number is provided for those out of the province). I said that I would send in proof of my student status and get the premiums waived. Not so fast! I was told that being a student does NOT exempt me from paying premiums. “Everyone pays the premiums,” said the woman, as if this was the most logical and fair system ever. “Everyone pays the same amount.”

She did say I could apply for a subsidy. All right then, tell me about this subsidy, I asked. Well, if you earned under $16,000 in 2006, you are eligible for a subsidy for health care premiums charged in 2007.

But it’s 2008, I retorted. You have sent me a bill that is due NOW, and NOW happens to be when I am a student and near-penniless.

The woman did not give a damn about that. I said the system was outrageous, that NO ONE should have to pay premiums, then said “Thank you, Alberta!” and hung up.

Now I have to mail in the $88, which I have noticed will again come at my expense (the government is too miserly to cover postage).

Hopefully, this will be the last money I ever pay to that gang of fat cats a.ka. the Alberta Government. I have never seen a government that manages to do so little with so much. I am not about to list (again!) all my grievances at those bastards. Let’s just call this the thousandth final straw in my own history with the province. To my way of thinking, making everyone pay the same amount for premiums is not fair — it is the very opposite of fair. To a CEO of Syncrude, $44/month is like lint from his pocket. You don’t notice its absence. But to the hundreds and thousands of people who struggle to get by every day, $44 is an unreasonable burden. Especially when we’ve already paid our taxes. Especially when the government does not even spend HEALTH CARE premiums on HEALTH CARE, but rather, collects it in the general revenue fund. Especially when you see that oil companies have exploited the tar sands for years while paying the lowest rate of royalties of almost any jurisdiction in the entire world. Let’s tax the rich a bit more shall we and maybe spare the poor?

With that rant off my chest, I am going to go on a walk to the Place des Arts. Montreal has a new coating of pristine snow, the sky is perfect blue, and everything is beautiful. I am sure I will be feeling happier in approximately three minutes.

Advertisement